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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25923739">the heart's reason</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/rire/pseuds/rire'>rire</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Developing Friendships, F/M, Female My Unit | Byleth, POV My Unit | Byleth, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 04:08:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,907</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25923739</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/rire/pseuds/rire</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Hmm,” said Annette, pursing her lips thoughtfully. “It seems like there’s something else. Some kind of reason— um, pun not intended— why you don’t want to open your heart up to learning magic.” </p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>In Harmony: An Annette/Felix Zine</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>the heart's reason</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I'm thrilled to have been a part of the Netteflix Zine! Everyone who contributed did a great job, and I can't wait to receive my copy. :")</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It all started, quite frankly, with an accident. </p><p>Still learning the ropes of teaching, Byleth found that students were approaching her with their own desires to study various fields. Not having spared much thought for the direction of her own training in the past, she found it best to leave that to them, and always granted their requests. </p><p>But the most recent mission was slated for the next day, and Mercedes was still recovering from a past injury. Looking over the battle map, it was clear that they didn’t have enough magic users to carry out this strategy— it was too much burden to put on Annette’s small shoulders.</p><p>The first person to walk past would bear the brunt of Byleth’s whim. Her eyes happened to land on a head of dark blue hair.</p><p>“Felix,” said Byleth. “You’re rather good at this. Have you thought about studying magic any further?” </p><p>“Not particularly,” said Felix with a trademark scowl. There was something dark in his eyes. Byleth figured it would be beneficial to get to the point.</p><p>“I’ll be honest,” said Byleth. “We’re short on magic users, and you’re a quick learner. I hope you won’t mind helping us out this once.”</p><p>“Why don’t you ask Sylvain? You’re a woman— he’ll bend over backwards to do anything you ask.” </p><p>“He’s out on the town,” Byleth answered honestly. “More importantly, I wanted someone to work hard for the sake of growing stronger, not to impress.”</p><p>Was that stroking his ego too much? Byleth held her breath.</p><p>“Fine, then. Since you have been commanding us adequately, I suppose I’ll give it a shot.” Felix huffed a sigh, as he tended to do, because on Felix’s scale, showing any pleasant emotion had to be accompanied by an equal bout of pain. </p><p>At least he was willing to do it, and the problem was solved for now.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Strolling through the monastery, Byleth came upon Annette and Felix in the training grounds. Annette was one of her most passionate students, and that was evident in the way that she talked animatedly to Felix, eyes shining with enthusiasm. </p><p>“So when you’re casting this spell, you do it like this!” She gathered her focus and extended her arm, casting a blinding purple flame forward. It sizzled the leaves of a nearby tree and turned them to dust. The fact that her small frame could generate such a dangerous blast both amused and amazed Byleth— and Felix too, it seemed.</p><p>“Alright. That should be easy,” he said. He opened up his palm and pushed it forward, chanting the spell. Nothing happened. A small flame flickered in the palm of his hand, then extinguished itself.</p><p>“Hmm,” said Annette, pursing her lips thoughtfully. “You’ve been working harder than anyone at this. I know you have! But the way I see it, it seems like there’s something else. Some kind of reason— um, pun not intended— why you don’t want to open your heart up to learning magic.” </p><p>The knot between Felix’s brows deepened, and his mouth turned downwards. “What’s <em> heart </em>got to do with it? Emotions have no place on the battlefield.” </p><p>Feet planted firmly on the ground, Annette didn’t hesitate to fire back at him. “Heart is the <em> most </em>important thing! If your thoughts are everywhere, you can’t focus on channeling that energy. It’s not like swinging a sword, which relies on muscle memory. With magic, you have to clear your head every single time.”</p><p>Felix narrowed his eyes. “Naturally. Reading a book is <em> nothing </em> like swinging a sword.”</p><p>With that, he turned on his heel and left.</p><p>At a loss for what to say, Byleth could only watch Annette’s forlorn expression as she stared at the spot he’d stood in. But just as quickly, her expression morphed into one of tenacious anger, as if to say, <em> just watch me. I’ll definitely prove you wrong. </em></p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>At half past midnight, especially with the upcoming mission, Byleth expected the students to be asleep, not out and about. But there they were, Felix and Annette, in the library. </p><p>“What are <em> you </em>doing here?” said Felix. But his naturally harsh tone didn’t faze Annette anymore.</p><p>“It’s none of your business.” She took one book from the towering stack in front of her and cracked it open. </p><p>Annette’s sigh made her whole body droop drearily. “I’m… looking for information about my father, who vanished years ago.”</p><p>There was a tense line in Felix’s shoulders. “I see.” A pause. “If there’s anything I can do…”</p><p>Annette shook her head. “Thank you, Felix. But I have to find him on my own.”</p><p>A long silence stretched out, during which Byleth felt the need to announce her presence. And yet it seemed too late, too awkward. And then, unexpectedly, Felix spoke up.</p><p>“My father uses magic. So did my brother. He’s dead now. My father always talks about it like it was some kind of noble sacrifice, and it makes me sick. I don’t want to use their kind of magic. I don’t want to let the past hold me back.”</p><p>“It wouldn’t be<em> their </em> kind of magic, though,” said Annette. “It’s your power, not theirs. If you don’t want to let the past hold you back, why not own it?”</p><p>Felix blinked at her. For once, he didn’t turn away or feign irritation, just looked at her with raw emotion on his face. </p><p>Feeling like she should not be privy to this conversation after all, Byleth decided to take her leave. There were things in one’s heart that one could only figure out on their own— or perhaps with a companion. She hoped it was the latter.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>On such a short time crunch, it was difficult to focus on improving the skills of any one student, so Byleth could only hope for the best— hope that Felix had somehow grasped enough magic to carry out their plan. </p><p>As Byleth and Dimitri engaged the enemy from the front, Felix and Annette cast spells from the back towards the units that were weak to magic. In the thick of the woods, the flames would take them by surprise. Or at least, that was what they’d hoped would happen. </p><p>There wasn’t enough time to move when enemy reinforcements emerged from behind Felix. A bandit nearly twice his size swung his axe at Felix. Engaged with two other enemies, he couldn’t react on time. But then a powerful blast that seemed to shake the earth to its core hit Felix’s attacker, knocking him backwards and knocking him unconscious. </p><p> </p><p>Faced with the fact that he’d been saved by Annette, Byleth could see the moment that something changed in Felix’s eyes. She almost expected him to be indignant about it— he was prideful, after all. But what really happened was fascinating. He’d never looked at anyone like that before— never with anything more than mild disinterest, let alone blatant respect. </p><p>Felix was drawn to strength like a moth to a flame. Byleth supposed it simply took him a while to realize that strength could manifest in ways other than his own.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Felix was smiling as he passed by Byleth on the way to the library, which was rare. </p><p>“Are you <em> humming?” </em>said Sylvain dubiously. </p><p>Felix caught himself and frowned. “No.” </p><p>“Professor, did you hear that? He’s <em> humming. </em> He’s <em> enjoying life </em>outside of swinging his sword. Next thing you know, the dogs and cats at the monastery will be able to fly.”</p><p>A disgruntled huff. “Shut up, Sylvain.” With a curt glance at Byleth, he headed onwards. </p><p>“Felix!” Annette greeted, standing on her tiptoes and waving as Felix entered the library. “Right on time! Come on— I’ve got to show you what I found at the end of this chapter.”</p><p>Come to think of it, the only times Byleth had seen Felix smile were with Annette. Even if the two seemed to clash at times, there was obviously a foundation of respect that might not have been expected among two people who seemed to contrast one another. But maybe they weren’t so different after all. And she seemed to enjoy his company too— as he pointed to a page in the book and pointed something out that Byleth couldn’t hear, Annette threw her head back and laughed. Whether his remark was really intended to be a joke (did Felix ever joke?), or whether Annette’s eyes shone with joy at another reason entirely— well, that was out of Byleth’s field of expertise.</p><p> </p><hr/><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>The battle proceeded according to plan all the way up until the end.</p><p>Stranded amidst the bushes amidst four enemy soldiers, Annette was clearly in trouble. With uneven ground surrounding her, it was near impossible to get there on time, and Ashe, their only archer, was injured. Byleth, who had little experience with attacking from a distance, had placed one unsure hand on her bow and arrow when Felix got there first. </p><p>With a powerful, thunderous blast, strength unparalleled from what Byleth had seen from him during practice, he knocked the enemy out of the way. </p><p>The shine of the spell was reflected in a clear lustre in Annette’s eyes as she watched him, and when he extended his hand to pull her up from the ground, she took it with a grin.</p><p>“Thanks, Felix. I’m glad you had my back.”</p><p>“I was just returning the favour. Now we don’t owe each other anything.”</p><p>Annette giggled. “We’re friends, Felix. You don’t have to keep tabs.”</p><p>Something akin to amusement quirked at the edge of Felix’s mouth. “Good, because I can only use this spell once.” </p><p>The battle did not pause for whatever was blossoming between them, and the enemies continued to charge. Felix drew his sword again, movements lightning-fast and familiar as he parried with the enemy soldier. As Felix swept his attacker off his feet and knocked him unconscious, Annette took care of the enemies behind him, all the while watching him over her shoulder with a smile that softened the edges of her eyes. </p><p>Surely this was not the kind of <em> sweeping you off your feet </em>that was meant to happen on the battlefield. But then again, when had Byleth’s students ever followed convention?</p><p>After the battle finally ended with a resounding victory, Annette clung to Felix. “Next time, you should teach me sword fighting. We could aim for the Mortal Savant certification together!” </p><p>“Do you even know how to hold a sword?”</p><p>“Like this?” In the absence of her own weapon— or perhaps for a more mischievous reason— she demonstrated by grabbing Felix’s arm.</p><p>Flustered, Felix tried to yank his arm away, but she held on tight. He sighed. “Whatever. I’ll teach you when we get back to Garreg Mach.”</p><p>His hand slid downwards, and for a split second, Byleth thought she saw Felix squeeze Annette’s hand right back. It was a small motion, nearly impossible to notice and even harder to confirm. But even if it had happened, she supposed that from here on out it wouldn’t be any of her business.</p><p>Byleth’s students might have taken unexpected paths sometimes, but they were always yearning to improve. It was this type of growth that made her glad she pushed Felix initially— because sometimes growing stronger did not only mean honing your physical skills, but opening up your heart to let others in. And already, Byleth was sure that with their twin forms of strength, the two of them would be formidable in the days to come.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Come find me on <a href="http://twitter.com/redbeantofu">Twitter</a> :) (I'm multifandom, but FE3H still always has a special place in my heart &lt;3)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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